Celeriac, or celery root, is a winter vegetable that can be transformed into a savory gratin with local potatoes and Vermont cheese. / CANDACE PAGE, Free Press

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Celery root, also known as celeriac, adds sweetness and a mild celery flavor to soup or a gratin made with local potatoes and leeks. / CANDACE PAGE, Free Press

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Where has celeriac been all my life?

I consider myself an adventurous eater, ready to try just about anything short of chocolate-covered beetles. Something about celery root, though, has discouraged me. For several winters, I’ve bought a couple of the big knobby vegetables at the Burlington Farmers Market, put them in the refrigerator — and composted them a couple months later.

This winter, my farm share has overflowed with celeriac, a form of celery grown for its fat, underground root rather than its green, stringy top.

So one night I googled a recipe for potato-celery root puree and made a batch. A new addiction was born. To repeat: Where has this wonderful vegetable been all my life?

The recipe called for making separate purees of potato and celeriac, then combining them. The result was delicious, but the plain celeriac puree was even better.

An article in Saveur, the cooking magazine, claims that celery root adds “a deep, earthy backbone” to mashed potatoes. This is completely wrong. Celeriac puree with whole milk and farm butter delivers a mild celery flavor with a striking undertone of sweetness, more ethereal than earthy.

The puree looks like mashed potatoes but is much creamier — and with one-third the carbohydrates.

So far celery root puree has married perfectly on our dinner plates with roast chicken, pork stew, sage sausage, broccoli rabe and other green vegetables. I find myself serving it every night and praying that our farm doesn’t run out until spring.

The root has a slightly daunting exterior of knobs and scales; perhaps that’s why the vegetable never made it into my pot before. But nothing could be easier than slicing off one end so the root sits flat, then using a heavy knife to cut away the skin in strips.

Once peeled, the root is ready to cook. Most recipes call for dropping the peeled root into acidulated water to prevent the white flesh from turning brown, but I’ve found the end product is a perfectly acceptable ivory color if it is cooked right away.

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Celeriac-potato soup comes with me to work for a satisfying lunch. My new company dish is celeriac-potato gratin, for which the Web offers a countless variety of recipes.

You’ll find my own version of the gratin below, but the joy of this recipe is that you can alter the ratio of potatoes and celery root, use less (or more) cheese of different kinds, add thinly sliced onions or finely chopped garlic — in other words, make the dish your own.

In a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt three tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Add the celery root along with a pinch of salt and toss to coat the celery root in the butter.

Cover tightly and cook until quite soft, about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Lower the heat if the celery root starts to brown. (Note: You may need to add a small amount of water to keep the root from sticking. In that case, once the celery root is soft, cooked uncovered briefly until the water evaporates).

Purée in the blender or food processor. The blender will give a more silky purée, but you will need to add milk as you blend.

While the celery root cooks, place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook at a gentle simmer until just tender. Drain. Pass through a ricer or food mill and return to the pot. Fold in 2 T. of butter and the reserved celery root purée.

Adjust the consistency of the purée with warm milk. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Serves 4.

(The big difference among recipes for this dish is whether or not to partially cook the vegetables on the stovetop before baking the gratin in the oven. The stovetop method is messier and creates more dishes, but does cut the oven cooking time substantially. If you choose to do the oven-only version, reduce the cream to 2-3 cups).

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and celeriac. Put the cream and milk in a big pot, preferably non-stick for easier cleaning and add the potatoes and celeriac. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the vegetables can be pierced by a fort but are not completely tender. Off the heat, stir in the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and and garlic.

Pour the vegetables into a buttered gratin dish and top with the cheese. Bake 30 to 45 minutes.